Recap: Wizards at Suns

The Suns burn the Wiz 106-98 led by speedy point guards Gorin Dragic and Isaiah Thomas who scored 20 and 18 points respectively. Don’t let the final score fool you, this was not an eight point game.

Right from the beginning it was clear that the Wizards just wanted to get this game over with and come back to D.C. This is often the case when Eastern Conference teams go on west coast road trips. They don’t show up for the final game. Even though this was the fourth game in five nights for the team, the only starter who played with energy and grit from the beginning was Kris Humphries as he recorded another double double with 11 points and 15 rebounds.

The Suns limited the Wizards to 17 first quarter points, their fewest this season. Cold shooting from Pierce, Wall, and Beal resulted in easy transition buckets for the Suns.

The second quarter was more of the same only the team started to turn the ball over more and more. Per usual, Isaiah Thomas had a big quarter and knocked down two threes. Is it me or does he always go off against the Wizards?

The Wizards trailed 56-39 at halftime and there was no reason to believe that things might get better. But they did. A quick 5-0 run on a runner from John Wall and a three pointer by Paul Pierce cut the lead to 12 and made the Suns take an early timeout. Pierce and Beal continued to stay aggressive taking the ball to the hole and not settling for outside jumpers. The Wizards were able to cut the lead to seven on a three pointer from Bradley Beal at the 7:20 mark of the third. They couldn’t complete this comeback again could they?

To either send a message or try and spark some energy, Wittman started Temple, Webster, Porter, Gooden, and Seraphin at the beginning of the fourth quarter. It worked. The Wizards started the fourth quarter blazing hot and were able to cut the lead to four at the 6:45 mark. Wittman may have left these guys in just a tad too long as the Suns called timeout and stretched the lead back out to 10 after the timeout. With the Starters reinserted sans Pierce, The Wizards made one last push and were able to cut the lead back down to four. Unfortunately, that’s the closest they would get as the Suns would close out and take care of business.

This game kind of epitomizes the road trip for the Wizards. Get down early and claw your way back into games. Seems like this team is going through a bit of a lull right now. No time to lose focus as Toronto comes to town Saturday night.